PSC Falls to Keene State in LEC Final, 3-1

Nov 01, 1998

KEENE, N.H. - The first ever Little East
Conference Field Hockey Championship belongs to Keene State
College.

KSC's Ally Huetz, named tournament MVP, had two goals to lead
the Owls to a 3-1 victory over rival Plymouth State College in the
LEC Championship game Sunday afternoon at Owl Stadium Complex. The
top seed in the tournament, KSC advanced to the championship after
a 2-0 win over Southern Maine while the Panthers, the third seed,
shutout second seed UMass-Dartmouth, 4-0.

"Everyone on our team played really well in the tournament,"
said PSC head coach Abby Burbank. "I thought both
teams played well Sunday. They beat us to the ball a few times, and
they converted their chances."

All four goals in Sunday's title game came off of penalty
corners. Keene State got on the board first when Huetz scored on a
rebound four minutes into the game. Amy Wallace got the eventual
game-winning goal, her 11th of the season, midway through the half
off another corner opportunity.

Plymouth State, which finishes the season at 8-9 overall, fought
back to get within one (2-1) on a second-half goal by freshman
Katie Dodge (Sanbornton, NH). It was just the
second goal scored against KSC on the Owl Stadium turf this season.
But KSC would come back with an important insurance tally when
Huetz was at the right place at the right time to knock in another
penalty corner rebound.

"There were times in the midfield when they stepped up better
than we did," said Burbank. "Keene State is fine tuned on its
corners, and they did a nice job with them."

The Owls had plenty incentive entering the game. Still in the
hunt for a NCAA Tournament bid, KSC was also looking to avenge an
early season 3-1 loss to the Panthers. It is the second straight
year PSC's season has ended with a post-season loss to Keene State.

Three Panthers were selected to the LEC All-Tournament Team -
senior Sarah Mello (Oak Bluffs, MA), junior
Jill Sutherland (Rockport, MA) and freshman
Nicole Lauriat (Greenfield, MA). Sutherland scored
three goals in PSC's 4-0 semi-final win over UMass Dartmouth, and
added an assist in the title game. She finishes her junior year in
13th place on PSC's all-time scoring list with 54 points (22 goals,
10 assists.)

Plymouth State's victory over UMD in the semi-finals avenged a
1-0 overtime loss at the hands of the Corsairs last Saturday
(October 24) that cost the Panthers the outright regular season
championship and the top seed in the tournament. The Panthers
scored twice in a span of 19 seconds midway through the first half.
Sutherland made it 1-0 on a tip in, and Katie
Dodge (Sanbornton, N.H.) gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Sutherland added two more goals in the second half for her hat
trick. Junior Chris Perruzzi (South Portland,
Maine) and freshman Leia Bridgham (Plymouth, N.H.)
combined for PSC's third shutout this season.